Fair Work Commission changes

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) will no longer be required to conduct customary four-year reviews of modern awards thanks to new laws passed earlier this week.

The FWC will undertake award reviews on an as-needs or by-request basis under the amended system.

The Fair Work Act amendment, which was introduced into parliament in March, also allows the FWC to overlook small technical errors in enterprise agreement applications, which were making it more difficult for employers to participate in the bargaining process.

The simplification was been described by Jobs and Industrial Relations Minister Kelly O’Dwyer as common sense.

“These are common sense reforms. Under the current arrangements we have seen unintended, and sometimes absurd, outcomes which have caused lengthy delays,” O’Dwyer said in a statement.

“The Fair Work Commission has rejected an enterprise agreement where an employer printed the notice to employees at the start of the bargaining process onto a piece of paper with the company letterhead on it, rather than a plain piece of paper.”

Unpaid domestic violence leave passed

The Coalition also passed reforms which will amend the Fair Work Act to guarantee five days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave to workers.

The move extends an FWC decision from earlier this year to insert similar provisions into many modern awards to all workers.

The changes fall short of what Labor is calling for, which includes the provision of paid domestic violence leave.

“While this is a welcome development, it doesn’t go far enough,” Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese wrote earlier this week.

“What is needed is 10 days of paid domestic violence leave — a position consistent with the statements of many victims, frontline workers, businesses, unions and organisations that deal daily with domestic violence.”

New FWC appointments

New appointments to the Fair Work Commission have ignited a row with unions, who have accused the government of stacking the independent body in favour of employers.

O’Dwyer moved to address concern the FWC is under-resourced on Friday, announcing the appointment of six new deputy presidents and a commissioner.

But while the Minister maintains the appointees are “highly qualified and well regarded”, the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has accused the government of bringing in “big-business lobbyists”.

Leyla Yilmaz, principal of LLY Business Consultancy, has been appointed as a commissioner.

The appointments will all be in effect by the end of next February, with the exception of Young, who will start on March 11.

“These additional appointments will give the Fair Work Commission the ability to approve pay increases and better working conditions more quickly for Australian workers,” O’Dwyer said in a statement.

However, the ACTU says there will now only be 14 representatives of “working people” on the commission, compared to 30 “business representatives”.

“These six appointments will result in a Fair Work Commission that is almost two-thirds comprised of people who’ve spent their lives attacking working ­people’s rights as big business lawyers and lobbyists,” ACTU secretary Sally McManus said in a statement.

SmartCompany is the leading online publication in Australia for free news, information and resources catering to Australia's entrepreneurs, small and medium business owners and business managers.

Monday to Friday, SmartCompany.com.au publishes news, business trends and ideas from around the world, profiles and features, as well as all the latest business, tax, legal, marketing, politics and innovation developments occurring around the country.